In recent years, along with miniaturization and higher performance of electronic equipment, a semiconductor apparatus has been required to be miniaturized and become denser. Therefore, there is employed a configuration in which, by conduction between a front surface and a rear surface of a semiconductor substrate using a penetrating electrode, connection to an external terminal is made at the rear surface of the semiconductor substrate (see Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. H09-092675). It is also known, in order to raise the packing density, wiring is also formed on rear surfaces of multiple semiconductor substrates, the multiple semiconductor substrates are laminated on one another, and the front and rear surfaces thereof are electrically connected to each other (see U.S. Pat. No. 739,712).
Further, there have been increasing needs for a penetrating electrode of a semiconductor apparatus in various fields including a semiconductor memory, a semiconductor chip used for a CMOS sensor, an AF sensor, or the like, a semiconductor package in which multiple semiconductor chips are laminated, and connection in an inkjet head body.
In a semiconductor apparatus in which a penetrating electrode is formed in a semiconductor substrate, when the through-hole is formed in the semiconductor substrate, due to unevenness in a hole-making process or the like, an area of an opening of the through-hole may not be made uniform in some cases. In such cases, the state of connection between a front surface and a rear surface of the semiconductor substrate using a penetrating electrode also varies in some cases.
In order to secure reliability, it is important to know the state of connection by the penetrating electrode, and a method of preferably checking the state of connection is desired.
Further, in a semiconductor substrate configured so that a contact probe for electrical checking may not be put on an electrode portion on a semiconductor device surface side, because the penetrating electrode is connected to the semiconductor device, there is no method suitable for checking a resistance value of several ohms. Therefore, the state of connection between the penetrating electrode and a pad portion of the semiconductor substrate may not be checked with an electrical checker.